Cowardly strike: Lieutenant General Moskalik was killed in Balashikha

On Friday morning, April 25, a car exploded in Balashikha. As a result of the emergency, Yaroslav Moskalik, Lieutenant General of the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense, was killed. Upon the incident, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under the article "murder". Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

The explosion in Balashikha: How did Lieutenant General Moskalik die?

A powerful explosion occurred near a high-rise building in Balashikha, Moscow region, on Friday morning, April 25. A Volkswagen car exploded on Nesterov Boulevard in Aviatorov microdistrict at about 10:40 a.m., when the Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (RF Armed Forces) was passing by Yaroslav Moskalik. The Lieutenant General died on the spot.

A criminal case has been opened into the incident, said Svetlana Petrenko, an official representative of the Investigative Committee (IC RF).

"The case was initiated on the grounds of crimes provided for in Articles 105 and 222.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Murder", "Illegal trafficking in explosives")," she explained.

The investigative and operational group, which included investigators, criminologists, experts, as well as employees of operational law enforcement units, began to inspect the scene.

The footage provided by the Investigative Committee shows that the car completely burned out as a result of the accident. There is also a lot of debris and personal belongings of the deceased near the transport.

This is not the only murder of a high-ranking military officer in Moscow over the past year.

The assassination of General Kirillov

The most high-profile case was the murder in December 2024 of the head of the RCBZ troops, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his assistant Ilya Polikarpov on Ryazansky Prospekt in Moscow.

Terrorist attack by phone call: suspect in the murder of General Kirillov detained

Terrorist testified under interrogation, faces life in prison

The explosion occurred at about 06:10 at a seven-story apartment building, while the explosive device was placed in a scooter standing next to the entrance, and activated remotely when the general came out of the entrance. Later it became known that the entrance surveillance camera was installed in the carsharing car.

The suspect of involvement in this crime was promptly detained, he turned out to be a 29-year-old native of Uzbekistan. He confirmed that he was acting on instructions from the Ukrainian special services and had specifically come to the capital to commit the murder. For committing a terrorist act, the perpetrator was promised $ 100 thousand and a trip to one of the EU countries.

Several criminal cases were initiated against the terrorist: under Part 2 of Article 205 ("Terrorist act"), part 2 of Article 105 ("Murder"), part 1 of Article 222.1 ("Illegal storage of explosives or explosives") and Part Z of Article 223.1 ("Illegal manufacture of explosives or explosives") of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. He could face life imprisonment for the crimes he committed.

Murder of Armen Sargsyan, founder of the ARBAT Volunteer Battalion

Another high-profile incident was the murder of the head of the DPR Boxing Federation, the founder of the ARBAT volunteer battalion, Armen Sargsyan, in February 2025.

The explosive device was detonated by a suicide bomber, it all happened in the lobby of the Scarlet Sails residential complex, when Sargsyan and his guards exited the elevator. The man died in hospital from his injuries, and several of his guards were seriously injured.

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on the incident under Part 3 of Article 30, Part 2 of Article 105, Part 2 of Article 105 and Part 4 of Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Attempted murder of two or more persons", "Murder in a generally dangerous manner", "Illegal arms trafficking").